Medical drapes are widely used to cover a patient during the performance of surgical and other medical procedures as a protective measure. Medical drapes are typically made sterile and aid in preventing the transmission of infection(s) to the patient by helping create a sterile environment surrounding the surgical site and maintaining an effective barrier that reduces the passage of microorganisms between non-sterile and sterile areas.
These drapes often include fenestrations that extend completely through the drape to provide access to a corresponding area of the patient's body over which the respective fenestration lies. In many cases an incise film fills all or a portion of the fenestrated area. This incise film will often have a side that includes an adhesive to facilitate adhering the incise film to the patient's skin to help retain the installed position of the incise film. That said, it is not uncommon for an adhesively-bonded incise film to nevertheless change position during use due to any number of contributing factors
As but one small example in these regards, surgical procedures often permit a patient's bodily fluids to escape the body (via, for example, a surgical incision within the fenestration). Unfortunately, such fluids can negatively impact the adhesive bond between the aforementioned incise film and the patient.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.